Airbnb has seen great growth in Latin America, but without stricter regulation, which has a major impact on the rental market. Vacation rental platforms, such as Airbnb, have changed the way people travel, but also the accommodation itself and even the areas they visit.
And they have also transformed entire urban centers through gentrification. And this not only in Europe and the United States but also in Latin America.
The offer of this type of short-term rental in the main capitals and cities of Latin America has seen a considerable increase following the Covid-19 pandemic. In the fourth quarter of 2023 alone it was 22% compared to the same period the previous year.
The latest data, provided to DW by AirDNA – a platform that tracks temporary accommodation around the world – points to Brazil and Mexico as the strongest markets, accounting for 35% and 20% of all supply in Latin America , followed by Colombia and Argentina.
Rapid expansion
For the Argentine geographer Natalia Lerena, of the research funding body Conicet, platforms like Airbnb have proliferated due to a Latin American context of “tenancy”, that is, “an increase in tenants compared to owners”; where social rental policies are lacking; and in which, unlike Europe, “access to housing has traditionally occurred through private property, employment or individual self-production”.
But there are several reasons for this expansion. Firstly, it is a very easily accessible type of technology – more than 6 million downloads in 2022 in Latin America alone -, which facilitates the entry of private individuals and professionals. And, secondly, by action or omission of local governments, as Lerena says. “There are almost no regulations, and when they do exist, their enforcement is uncontrolled or very poorly controlled.”
Lerena also cites a third reason: this sector allows owners to have access to consumers using hard foreign currencies, which “in some countries, such as Argentina, is a middle class strategy to alleviate the economic crisis.”
The challenge of regulation
With the proliferation of this type of temporary rental, some cities have opted for regulation. The measures have already been implemented in Barcelona, Paris and London and, most recently, in New York.
Some regulations exist in some Latin American countries, but a lack of oversight undermines their enforcement. In Buenos Aires, for example, there is a mandatory register of temporary rentals which only has around 500 properties listed, even though there are more than 35,000 listings on Airbnb, according to the Inside Airbnb platform.
According to economist Ignacio Ibarra, from the Instituto Tecnológico e de Estudos Superiores de Monterrey, in Mexico, the lack of regulatory elements and rigorous protocols makes Airbnb a safe platform for the owner, who does not need to resort to “informal mechanisms” in contracts. .
Ibarra also recalls that there is a certain relaxation in the application of the rules due to staff limitations in the responsible public bodies, as well as in the platforms themselves, which do not carry out the required checks.
Gentrification, “the logical consequence”
Airbnb’s expansion has put pressure on the traditional rental market in virtually all major cities in Latin America, but especially in Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro or other medium-sized cities such as Cancún, Bariloche and Salvador from Bahia.
“There is a ‘ripple displacement’ effect, where the middle class needs to ‘go there’ to find a neighborhood to live in,” Lerena says. She adds that “there is no territorial ‘democratisation’ effect, but an even greater appreciation of the richest areas of the city, which are the most attractive for foreign visitors”.
To DW, Airbnb stressed that it is helping to redistribute tourism to less populated neighborhoods, which “brings economic benefits to communities that previously lacked it.”
For Ibarra, however, rental platforms are taking advantage of the advantages already offered by these neighborhoods. This is the case of Mexico City, with neighborhoods that attract digital nomads, who in turn stimulate the search for rent and consumption in general, to the point of generating a “reconversion process”, he explains. “Gentrification is the logical consequence,” she sums up.
For urban development consultant Rosalba González, of the Catholic University of Chile, “it is contradictory to create a project that attracts more inhabitants with a high purchasing power in an area that is increasingly less accessible to local inhabitants”, citing as an example the project created by Mexico City in 2022 in collaboration with Airbnb and UNESCO to promote digital nomadism.
“The question is how to make this collaboration between short-term rental platforms and local governments fair to everyone,” he emphasizes.
Airbnb launched in 2008 in San Francisco, US, and currently has more than 7.7 million active listings in more than 200 countries and 100,000 cities. According to the SearchLogistics portal, six guests are welcomed into an Airbnb listing every second.
Source: Terra
Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.
